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-   -   Easter Break in England-bad time to go or not to busy??? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/easter-break-in-england-bad-time-to-go-or-not-to-busy-808942/)

Jhstubbs Oct 4th, 2009 08:19 PM

Easter Break in England-bad time to go or not to busy???
 
Looks like our family, 2 kids, my husband and myself will be visiting England from the US during April 1-11th 2010. This is during the Easter break. We are wondering how busy will London be with kids out of school on holiday during this time? Is it just unbearable like in the summer season, or will it be not too bad? Do kids in school have the same time off as we do here in the States?

Also, are most of the "major" historical attractions open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday as well as the Monday bank holiday? What about transportation, trains and subways?

Any insight will be helpful. Thanks.

flanneruk Oct 4th, 2009 11:00 PM

London's major visitor sites rarely get any busier during school holidays (when children normally get taken to places the family wants to go to) than during term time (when, at least on weekdays, school parties can make many of London's main museums and art galleries close to unvisitable).

HOWEVER, the depressed state of the £ is currently creating a miniboom in London's tourist industry, with our Continental neighbours rushing to buy the place up. Easter is a peak time for them - though whether they'll still be pouring in six months from now is as unpredictable as the forex market.

Virtually all attractions open normally over Easter (though all stores over 3,000 sq ft close all day Easter Sunday).

Obviously, the city's emptier over a holiday weekend than when people are working, so there are slightly fewer trains etc. Transport runs to a more or less Sunday schedule: typically if a tube normally runs every four minutes, it'll run every six over the holiday.

In practice, the difference is imperceptible to most visitors, except that most transport is less busy. HOWEVER, if there's major engineering work to be done on tube lines or (more often) above-ground railway lines, it often gets done over holiday weekends because that way fewer people are inconvenienced.

Announcements about this are usually made around three months ahead. Though work on inter-city railway lines can often seriously disrupt inter-city journeys, such work on tube lines is never more than a bloody nuisance, as the extraordinary density, frequency and duplication of London's tubes and buses means you just take a different route. I don't do inter city railway journeys at holiday weekends without advance checking: it wouldn't occur to me to worry about the tube.

Barbara_in_CT Oct 5th, 2009 03:05 AM

I was in London Easter week of 2008 with seven and eight year olds. The crowds were not unbearable at all. I do remember that the British Museum was closed on Good Friday. If you are church goers (perhaps even if you aren't) on Palm Sunday at St. Paul's there is a procession with live animals during the church service. On Easter Sunday, we went to church at Westminster Abbey and then took the train to Hampton Court Palace. Hampton Court had art workshops for children as well as a 'light hearted' audio tour. The worst crowd we encountered was at Harrod's toy department.

carolyn Oct 5th, 2009 05:06 PM

Check Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's for times of their worship services. You are not allowed to tour the churches during a service, and there will be special observances during Holy Week.


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